NEW YORK AP β New York City officials are using forensics and video surveillance to identify the woman who burned to death on a subway car in Brooklyn, while the man accused of lighting her on fire was indicted by a grand jury on state charges, prosecutors announced Friday. Sebastian Zapeta, 33, is accused of setting the woman's clothing ablaze aboard a stopped train at the Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue station on Sunday morning.
He has been indicted on murder and arson charges, Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez said after a brief court hearing Friday. The top charge carries a maximum sentence of life in prison without parole, he added.
Attorneys for Zapeta, who federal immigration officials said is a Guatemalan citizen who entered the U. Zapeta was taken into custody on Sunday, hours after police disseminated images of a suspect in the woman's death. Police said three high schoolers called after recognizing the person in the image, and officers found him on another subway train in the same gray hoodie, wool hat, paint-splattered pants and tan boots.
It is unclear when and where he reentered the U. At an arraignment in Brooklyn criminal court earlier in the week, a prosecutor alleged Zapeta approached the woman on the train and set her clothing on fire. He waved a shirt at her to fan the fire, causing her to become engulfed in flames, then sat on a bench and watched, prosecutor Ari Rottenberg said during the Tuesday court appearance. But he alleged that Zapeta identified himself in images of the attack to investigators.
His indictment will be unsealed in January, Gonzalez said. A Brooklyn address for Zapeta released by police matches a service center for Samaritan Daytop Village, which provides housing and substance abuse support. The organization did not respond to a request for comment. As of Friday, police have only described the victim as a woman. Gonzalez said officials were making progress on identifying her through fingerprints, DNA, and video surveillance of her movements before the attack.
